All engines—diesel, gasoline, propane, and natural gas—produce exhaust gas containing carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides. These emissions are the result of incomplete combustion. Diesel engines also produce particulate matter. As more government focus is being placed on health and environmental issues, agencies around the world are enacting more stringent emission's laws.
Because so many diesel engines are used in trucks, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and its counterparts in Europe and Japan first focused on setting emissions regulations for the on-road market. While the worldwide regulation of nonroad diesel engines came later, the pace of cleanup and rate of improvement has been more aggressive for nonroad engines than for on-road engines.
Manufacturers of nonroad diesel engines are expected to meet set emissions regulations. For example, Tier 3 emissions regulations required an approximate 65 percent reduction in particulate matter (PM) and a 60 percent reduction in NOx from 1996 levels. As a further example, Interim Tier 4 regulations required a 90 percent reduction in PM along with a 50 percent drop in NOx. Still further, Final Tier 4 regulations, which will be fully implemented by 2015, will take PM and NOx emissions to near-zero levels.
Many Tier 3, interim Tier 4, and Final Tier 4 engines comprise turbochargers, which are well known devices for supplying intake gas to the engine at pressures above atmospheric pressure. Under some operating conditions, the turbocharger may be prone to failure, leading to oil entering the intake system and/or exhaust system of the engine.